Usman Khawaja rounded off a magnificent March with a brilliant 98 as Australia swept Pakistan aside to complete a 5-0 ODI series whitewash in Dubai, writes SIMON LEWIS.
Usman Khawaja (98 off 111 balls) and Aaron Finch (53 off 69 balls) got Australia off to a slow but steady start, adding 134 for the first wicket before Finch fell in the 24th over.
Shaun Marsh (61 off 68 balls) added 80 for the second wicket before Khawaja fell two runs short of his ton in the 40th over, after which Marsh and Glenn Maxwell slammed 60 runs from five overs and four balls.
Maxwell was particularly severe on the Pakistan bowling, slamming 70 runs off just 33 balls (S/R 212.12) with 10 fours and three sixes as Australia piled on 327-7 off their 50 overs, with Usman Shinwari 4-49 (econ 4.90) and Junaid Khan 3-73 (econ 8.11) sharing the wickets.
Pakistan lost opener Abid Ali for a golden duck in the first over, but Shan Masood (50 off 54 balls) and Haris Sohail got the run chase on track with a stand of 109 off 19 overs.
Sohail and Umar Akmal (43 off 44 balls) added 102 runs for the fourth wicket, but the pressure to keep up with the rising run rate saw Sohail depart four balls later after a superb 130 scored off 129 balls (11×4, 3×6)
Imad Wasim (50 not out off 34 balls, 6×4, 1×6, S/R 147.05) did his best to eat into the deficit but the task was too big as Australia claimed victory by 20 runs to seal the series 5-0. Jason Behrendorff picked up 3-63 (econ 7.87), while Maxwell (1-45, econ 4.50) and Nathan Lyon (1-50, econ 5.00) were the most economical with the ball.
Photo: Francois Nel/Getty Images
